Mohawk Native Killed on Challenger Explosion
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the tragic Challenger Explosion. On January 28th, 1986 7 american astronauts were killed when The Space Shuttle Challenger burst in to flames just 73 seconds into it's flight. One of the people on that mission was Mohawk, NY native Gregory B. Jarvis.
Greg Jarvis graduated from Mohawk Central High School in 1962. His role in the Challenger Mission was payload specialist. That is an individual selected and trained by commercial or research organizations for flights of a specific payload on a NASA Space Shuttle mission. In memory of Jarvis, The Mohawk Central High School was renamed Gregory B. Jarvis High School. That name was then given to the middle school after the merger of the Ilion and Mohawk school districts. Keep in your memory today the 7 people that passed away 30-years-ago today and their families.